- The Hermitage Club to build a detachable quad to mid mountain this summer.
- Snowmass likely to replace the Sky Cab pulse gondola with a detachable system in 2027.
- Under a proposed settlement, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies would pay some 300 riders who were on the Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola during two abrupt stopping incidents in 2020 a total of CA$5.1 million.
- Blackcomb closes Catskinner for a few days for haul rope inspection/repair.
- Glen Eden’s Limestone quad goes out of service for repairs.
- Also Luckey’s at Table Mountain.
- And Lift 2 at Loveland.
- Ragged Mountain works to return Barnyard to service.
- Tremblant runs the rarely open Casino Express as a substitute for the Soleil Express for a few days.
- Two workers are killed on a Bartholet construction site in Oman when a work carrier falls.
- A snowboarder dies in Japan after being dragged by a backpack while trying to disembark a lift.
- A Graffer gondola for the Cortina Olympics may not be finished in time.
- An unseated passenger is okay after falling from height at Mammoth.
- Nonprofit Badger Mountain, Washington fundraises to maintain utilities and insurance.
- Another transit gondola route is floated in Park City.
- After two incidents and two lawsuits, Sun Peaks stops allowing a concessionaire to load “Snow Limos” on chairlifts.
- Closed Sleeping Giant, Wyoming in talks to sell to an unnamed operator with properties in Colorado and New Mexico.
- Gore Mountain conducts a high-profile evacuation of its gondola following a deropement.
- Cornerstone General Contractors is the low bidder to be construction manager/general contractor on the Eaglecrest used gondola install.
- An update on the sale of Eldora to a nearby town.
- Several Oregon ski areas suspend operations due to minimal snowpack.
Gore Mountain
News Roundup: Explorer
- The Palm Springs Tramway reopens tomorrow after a week closure due to a faulty motor contactor.
- The public operator of Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface, lost a record $50 million last year.
- Wasatch Peaks adds an eighth lift to its fleet this summer.
- Montage Mountain, PA appears to leave the Indy Pass but new additions are coming soon.
- Mt. Norquay displays demo cabins from both manufacturers with gondola installation planned for 2026.
- Vail Resorts increases the discount Epic Pass holders can give friends to 50 percent.
- In an interview, Vail’s CEO says the company will refocus on North American investment.
- Austrian Fabian Dankl rides a bike on a haul rope between two lift towers (with permission).
- Unseated passengers aren’t just a winter problem.
- Snoqualmie raises $194,000 for charity from the sale of 97 Riblet doubles.
- Gore Mountain to sell chairs from Topridge in a race-to-the-parking lot format August 23rd.
- Riverbanks Zoo to open South Carolina’s only gondola this month.
- A lightning-caused wildfire burns much of Tamarack’s proposed expansion area but spares resort infrastructure so far.
- Purgatory runs into permitting delays with the Gelande lift project.
- Butternut releases a new trail map showing the Jane’s Quad.
- Sponsored job: Cable Propelled Transit Engineer at SCJ Alliance.
- I snapped a few photos of the Sunrise Gondola and parking garage projects at Park City last week.
News Roundup: Deer Valley Green
- The nonprofit that operates Big Moose Mountain, Maine seeks to buy the resort.
- Local Boulder investors are interested in purchasing Eldora.
- The Seattle Times looks at why Riblets are slowly being retired across the Pacific Northwest.
- A remarkable $145 million 3S gondola opens in France.
- One of La Grave’s most popular lifts will be closed for a month or longer after an inspection finds an in-season rope change is needed.
- The world’s steepest aerial tram launches in Switzerland.
- A child is injured falling from a lift at Mt. Ski Gull, Minnesota.
- Multiple people fall from the Beaver Run SuperChair at Breckenridge.
- The new Black Bear 6 is rope evacuated at Camelback, Pennsylvania.
- Doppelmayr USA appoints former DPS Skis President and CEO Alex Adema as Vice President of Sales, promotes Shawn Marquardt to Senior Director of Sales.
- Leitner-Poma and Skytrac celebrate on time completion of 22 projects before the Christmas holiday.
- Gondolas are staging a comeback at theme parks, zoos and fairs.
- The Sky Cab gondola at Snowmass could be replaced and repurposed to run from the town center to base village.
- Brush cutting in the area of a possible future Lower Faces lift at Jackson Hole riles conservation groups.
- Skytrac is the low bidder to replace Gore Mountain’s Topridge triple and move the old lift to Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
- Thanks to reader Tyler for these pictures of the five new chairlifts in Deer Valley’s East Village.
News Roundup: Topridge
- Gore Mountain plans to replace the Topridge triple with a fixed quad next summer.
- ORDA would relocate Topridge to Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
- Grouse Mountan will hold an art contest to wrap new gondola cabins.
- Another art contest to decorate retired gondolas in Park City.
- Cascade Skyline Gondola proponents argue the competing Bridal Veil Mountain Resort project in BC shouldn’t be built due to spotted owls.
- A young Canadian racer suffers severe injuries in Switzerland allegedly due to a malfunctioning T-Bar.
- A lift maintenance worker is killed in Italy after being hit by a carrier.
- A study concludes that only 9 percent of chairlift riders use safety bars in the Midwest compared with 80 percent in the Northeast.
- A French resort highlights how used chairlift projects generate significantly lower carbon emissions than new.
- A number of Aspen executives to retire amid sale rumors.
- In Canada, Lake Louise’s new six pack will be named Pipestone Express; Mont Grand-Fonds’ will be named Lynx Express.
- I joined the Low Pressure Podcast to talk about lifts.
News Roundup: New Double Chair
- The private equity firm working to build a gondola in Idaho Springs, Colorado will reopen the Estes Park Tramway.
- A surveyor is spotted for that Idaho Springs gondola.
- Utah environmental groups seek to consolidate three lawsuits against the Little Cottonwood Gondola.
- Extell says three new lifts will open at Deer Valley next winter.
- Chicopee, Ontario looks toward lift upgrades.
- Hogadon, Wyoming closes the season early due to lift issues.
- Grizzly at Bear Valley, California suffers multiple breakdowns and closes for the season early.
- Long waits have Snowmass leaders asking for a Sky Cab “Skittles” pulse gondola replacement.
- ORDA commits $1.1 million for new grips on Gore Mountain’s Northwoods Gondola and $5 million to replace Little Whiteface with a new double chair in 2025.
- Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina plans a detachable gondola across the Saluda River.
News Roundup: Too Expensive
- Bromont, Quebec joins the Mountain Collective, Arapahoe Basin will remain for 24-25.
- Steamboat’s Pony Express goes down, temporarily cutting off lift access to the new Mahogany Ridge Express as well.
- The main beginner chair goes down at Big Powderhorn.
- Arizona Snowbowl nears an agreement with tribes and land managers to resume development of the resort.
- New owners of Alyeska float a base area pulse gondola.
- Staff at Rabbit Hill, Alberta successfully catch a falling chairlift rider.
- Middlebury Snowbowl announces the Bailey Falls triple won’t operate this season due to “unprecedented challenges.”
- Powder Mountain will pause lift-served mountain biking this summer while it constructs four new chairlifts.
- Alta tests new, cushier chairs on Supreme to possibly alleviate the bumpiness of the bend.
- A day in the life of Beaver Creek Lift Maintenance.
- The beautiful new 3S between Switzerland and Italy proves unpopular at $250 per ride.
- A father who jumped from a Park City chair after his daughter fell from a lift sues Vail Resorts over their injuries.
- A number of British Columbia ski areas report a disastrous season so far.
- McCauley Mountain is set to acquire Gore Mountain’s outgoing Hudson triple.
- The Forest Service indicates it will approve Monarch Mountain’s proposed expansion into No Name Basin.
- Perfect North will hold a chair auction.
- The owner of the Chicago Cubs to acquire White Pine, Wyoming.
- Deer Valley is working with both major lift manufacturers on potential Expanded Excellence lifts.
- Big Sky plans to name the new Moonlight lift Madison 8, seeks wildlife photography for D-Line chair backs.
- Sunday River evacuates more than 200 riders from the Aurora Quad following a deropement yesterday.
- A 3S gondola proposal in Los Angeles notches another approval.
News Roundup: Legoland Gondola
- Nordic Valley should know by March whether Apollo can be repaired or must be replaced. Bridger also remains out of service.
- Wasatch Peaks Ranch resolves its dispute with residents, can resume construction.
- Alterra closes a $3+ billion fundraising round with proceeds going to “building out existing properties plus possible property acquisitions.”
- At Mt. Bachelor, Northwest Express loses its electric motor, will run on diesel at reduced speed for much of the season.
- Big White’s Black Forest Express suffers a similar issue but is back on electric.
- A fan video shows construction has begun on a new Leitner-Poma gondola at Legoland New York.
- Gore Mountain plans to replace all 73 cabins on the Northwoods Gondola with new Sigma cabins at a cost of $3,055,977.
- Heavenly admits responsibility for leaving a guest stranded overnight on a gondola last week.
- A French tram where empty cabins crashed into the stations in 2021 will reopen next year with all new cabins and other upgrades.
- An unseated passenger incident at Mammoth makes global news.
- Politicians fight against a gondola in Los Angeles.
- The New Yorker runs a long-form story on Jay Peak’s EB-5 debacle.
- Bloomberg chronicles Vail Resorts’ trials and tribulations in the Northeast.
- Multiple lifts suffer down time at Park City.
- Roland Bartholet will depart as CEO of Bartholet this month but remain on the board.
News Roundup: Gondola Down
- The on-demand Ropetaxi gondola in Switzerland suffers from outages, slow speeds and confused riders after opening.
- Gore Mountain’s Northwoods Gondola goes down for a week and counting due to a gearbox bearing issue.
- The Heavenly Gondola is also out of service while bearings are replaced.
- Both Doppelmayr and Leitner-Poma are expected to bid on the Cannon tram rebuild with completion targeted for December 2026.
- A child is injured falling from the Gold Coast chair at Palisades.
- The strong earthquake in Japan shakes running chairlifts.
- Windham Mountain Club runs out of weekend Ikon reservations for most of the winter.
- The Forest Service approves replacements for Mineral Basin and Gadzoom at Snowbird, the proposed Brighton Chondola and a Coach replacement at Bogus Basin.
- Snowbasin plans to replace the Becker triple.
- Boyne Mountain will spin lifts 75 hours straight for a good cause.
- Alterra President and CEO Jared Smith participates in an interview with Colorado Public Radio covering a range of industry hot topics.
News Roundup: Cost Overruns
- Eaglecrest needs $1.86 million in additional parts for its used pulse gondola, which has already cost $3.1 million before construction.
- 2023 was “by far the most successful year” in North America for the Doppelmayr Group.
- An upcoming Garaventa tram in Europe will feature robotic cargo loading.
- Mechanics at the Portland Tram vote not to unionize.
- Unionized lift mechanics at Park City reach a two year contract with Vail Resorts.
- Gore Mountain issues an RFP to replace Northwoods Gondola cabins in 2024.
- Doppelmayr wins a contract for a 189 cabin urban gondola in Bogotá, Colombia and begins construction on a 122 cabin urban gondola in Santiago, Chile.
- A viral video shows a chairlift in China bouncing wildly due to a malfunction.
- Heavy rains close Sunday River for 5 days and knock the Chondola out of service.
News Roundup: First Day of Fall
- A court finds zoning allowing Wasatch Peaks Ranch to continue as a private ski resort can be put to a public referendum. Three chairlifts already operate there with a fourth under construction.
- The Tennessee State Fair will build a chairlift next year.
- Gore Mountain’s new trail map shows the location of the new Bear Cub Quad.
- Lee Canyon recovers well from a hurricane-fueled flood this summer.
- A snowboarder who fell from Whistler Mountain’s Emerald Express sues Whistler Blackcomb.
- Echo Mountain sells to an investor with a bunch of non-ski businesses.
- Lifts are being removed at Marshall Mountain after 20 years idle.
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